“I long to grow up, to be a man. I long to be in a hurry to do something, before time runs out. I long for the feeling that life is precious, that I have to cram as much as I can into every sun-drenched day and every frost-filled night; to know that childhood is special because it dies not last forever; to have friends, like Aiden and Roxy, who will not look at me strangely, and then turn away from me when I fail to age like them.”